In Ashland, Nebraska, on December 3, 1967, Herbert Schirmer, a 22 years young patrolman, was making his usual rounds. He had checked the Ashland Sales Barn, and several gas stations along Highway 6 when he noticed what he thought were red lights on top of a large truck. He had just passed through the intersection of Highways 6 and 63 at about 2:00 AM.

He drove the short distance down 63 and stopped with his headlights shining on the object. According to Schirmer, the object was definitely not a truck. The red lights that he had seen were blinking through the oval portholes of a metallic, oval-shaped object that was hovering at a height of about eight feet above the road's surface.

The object appeared to have a polished, aluminum surface and had a sort of walk around it. It had a structure underneath, like a landing gear.

As he watched, the object rose into the air with flames coming from underneath. It passed almost directly over
Schirmer's patrol car, then quickly shot out of sight.

Schirmer returned to the police station, noting that it was now 3:00 AM., which surprised him because he felt that only ten minutes had passed. At the station, he made this entry into his logbook:

"Saw a flying saucer at the junction of highways 6 and 63. Believe it or not!"

Afterward, Schirmer developed a red welt on his neck, a headache, and he began to feel ill. Word of Schirmer's sighting was related to the Condon Commission at the University of Colorado, which investigated UFO reports.

Schirmer was asked to come to Boulder, Colorado. At Boulder, on February 13, 1968, he was hypnotized by psychologist Dr. Leo Sprinkle of the University of Wyoming.

Under hypnosis, Schirmer recalled that, after he stopped his car near the object, the engine died and his radio went silent. A white object emerged from the craft and seemed to communicate mentally with him, preventing him from drawing his gun as he was want to do.

After the hypnotic session had ended, Schirmer was able to recall even more details about the encounter. The beings were friendly, they drew energy from electrical power lines, and they had a base on Venus.

The Condon Committee concluded that: "Evaluation of psychological assessment tests, the lack of any evidence, and interviews with the patrolman, left project staff with no confidence that the trooper's reported UFO experience was physically real."

Psychologist Dr. Sprinkle, however, felt that Schirmer "believed in the reality of the events he described."

Returning to Ashland, Schirmer was appointed Ashland's Police Chief when Chief Wlaskin resigned. However, he resigned after two months, unable to concentrate on the job due to his UFO experience.

According to Schirmer, he was ridiculed by some of the townspeople, his car was dynamited, andhis wife left him.

Further regression hypnosis sessions were conducted on June 8, 1968, by hypnotist Loring G. Williams and the results of those sessions were reported in two books: "Gods, Demons, and Space Chariots" and "Gods and Devils from
Outer Space" by Eric Norman.

One odd fact that was brought out was that the aliens wore uniforms with an emblem of a winged serpent on the left breast, similar to the winged serpents that have appeared in mythology around the world.